Hello truestsciences, no worries in asking, I'm here to help
First, you don't have to play through the entire game, you can simply select new game, and then select the last option, which will send you to the end of the 2nd month at lvl 9. If it's your first time playing and you fail at the 3rd month at your first try, you can select this option to start the month from scratch, avoiding going through the entire game


And yes, there's wiggle room, in my previous screenshot I reached lvl 12 during the 3rd week. that leaves a week and a half to meet the quota, if you have full SELL stat then you'd meet the quota by going to sell twice, just 2 days. What you should do to get the best the result is to search and sell when your stats are full. I've added more tips here
If having to level up is not clear, then what I can do is add more dialogue which emphasizes that you have to but not in a hand-holding way, Senna mentions that you'd have to work more (the game over help corner mentions that as well) but I can make her remind you that more frequently




